Fire-escape



G. OA -PLIS. FIRE ESCAPE.

(No Model.)

, No. 496,509. PatentedMay 2, 1893;

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UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OA'IHARINE OAPLIS, OF RONDOUT, NEW YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,509, dated May 2,1893. Application filed December 9, 1892. Serial No. 454,594. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CATHARINE OAPLIs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Rondout, in the county of Ulster and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to that class of fire escapes which arepermanently attached to houses and made accessible from the windowsthereof, and the object of the invention is to provide a substantial yetinexpensive attachment for houses, convenient to be reached from any oneof a column of windows where it is located so that a erson in any storyof a house thus provide may quickly descend to the ground.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination ofparts forming a fire escape, hereinafter described and claimed,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure Irepresents a corner view of a ho use in perspective, showing myinvention in position for service on the left side of the house and inits normal or stored away position at the right side of the house. Fig.II, is a top or plan view of a supporter on a larger scale. Fig. III,represents a portion of my escape ladder partly in vertical section andshowing different styles of steps thereon.

5 represents a house.

6 represents a rod which constitutes the body of my escape ladder, and 7represents the supporter therefor. The supporter is preferably made ofstrong bar iron, secured firmly at its two ends to the house above aWindow, or above acolumn of windows, its middle portion beingcurvedoutward as shown in Fig. II. The ladder rod 6 is provided with an eye 8at its top, fitting loosely around the supporter 7, to hang freelythereon, so that a person in any one of the columns of windows to whichit belongs may take it from the position shown at the right in Fig. I,and slide it around on the rod in front of a window, as shown at theleft of Fig. I.

9 represents a series of steps or handles secured upon the rod 6 andthey may be in the form of rounded knobs as shown at 10, Fig. III, sothat'if a rod was grasped bya persons knees the knobs would form nosuflicient ob-,

struction to catch the clothing of a person sliding down over them andyet they serve as resting places for the hands and feet. Or if it shouldbe desirable these steps 9 may be made saucer shaped, as shown at 11, inorder that a persons foot may obtain a firm hold upon each step.

There may be one supporter 7 and one ladder hung thereon for eachvertical column of windows, or there may be two or more of thesupporters 7 as shown at 12, with a separate ladder attached to eachsupporter for a column of windows. Of course these ladders may be placedat any number of columns of windows on any house.

The supporter 7 may be long enough to carry the ladder entirely beyondthe space 00- cupied by swinging the blinds on such houses as haveoutside blinds, or the ladder may be stored either in front or behindthe open blinds. V

The ladder may be made long enough to reach from the upper story to theground, but it is more common for such escape ladders to stop atthesecond story floor, as herein shown, to beoutof reach of theburglars. Yet the usual swinging ladders may be hung below that floor,or my ladder may be hung there to be swung up and lodged out of reachfrom the ground as shown at 14.

Some of the advantages of this invention would be obtained by hangingaladder of any kind loosely upon the curved supporting bar 7, but Iprefer the ladder described as being the most simple and inexpensive.

This whole device is so simple and easily applied that every house ownershould be able to buy one and he can put it on for himself. Thecertainty that it will always be within reach in time of need would be asource of comfort to dwellers in high rooms, and it may be made of anystrength required to support one person or a line of persons from top tobottom, thus being perfectly reliable.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is thefollowing:

1. The combination in a fire escape, of a cnrvedbaradaptedtobeseonredtoawallabove a window therein with its ends in vertical linesthat fall beyond the sides of the window; and

5 a ladder loosely hung upon the bar; the said bar and ladder beingadapted for the ladder to slide upon the bar from the wall at one sideof the window to the Wall at the other side, and to hang from any pointof said bar,

10 substantially as described.

2. The combination in a the escape, of a ladder rod provided withsaucer-shaped steps and means for supporting the rod upon a house,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in I 5 presence of twowitnesses.

CATIIARINE GAPLIS.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. OLIVER, JOHN D. ECKERT.

